


Recognition

by valerhian24



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-21
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-22 18:46:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4846328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valerhian24/pseuds/valerhian24
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Maleficent adjusts to life in Storybrooke, as well as life again in general, she realizes just how important an old friend might actually be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Recognition

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first OUAT fic I've been inspired to write, I hope you like it. 
> 
> Sorry. There was going to be more, but the unexplained disappearance of Mal in Season 5 as well as the overall crappiness of this story arc have left me completely uninspired. Might add more one day, I can only assume Mal will be back with no explanation given eventually.

  After her first month in Storybrooke, Maleficent was finally getting used to the way of life in this strange new land.   Lily had left town a few weeks earlier, which had nearly killed her.  Watching her daughter leave with no way of chasing after her had been nearly impossible.  Regina had offered to track Lily down again with Emma’s help, but Maleficent had told her not to bother.  Lily would come back home if she wanted.  Maleficent felt that it was for the best to let her daughter make her own choice.   But it had left the dragon feeling a definite emptiness. 

  She had spent most of the last few weeks with her old friend, who was helping her adjust to life outside the Enchanted Forest.  It had been invigorating, spending so much time with the Queen again.  It reminded the dragon of a different low point in her life, when the audacious young Regina had been able to help return to her the fire she’d lost.  Regina may have been sharp tongued with the rest of the idiots in town, but for Maleficent, she was always quick with a smile.  In fact, Regina had found it surprisingly comfortable to have her old friend around again.

  Maleficent had gotten used to a routine of spending the day reading in the Mayor’s office while Regina worked at her nearby desk, but today had been different.  Regina wasn’t in her office when Mal arrived.  When she failed to come in at all, Mal decided to check on Regina, but the Mayor’s home was dark and empty.  Maleficent had tried to phone to Regina earlier that day, but Regina had barely spoken and brushed her off quickly, which was quite unlike her.  Something in the tone of Regina’s voice, which Mal knew so well, had told her something was wrong.

  That evening, Maleficent was at Granny’s.  Leaning against the back wall of the diner, she was keeping an eye on Regina, who was sitting at the counter.  The dragon’s calm demeanor did not betray the whirlwind of thought that spun in her head as she wordlessly watched her friend.  Aside from the first night they had been reunited, when Regina was attempting to prove herself, Maleficent now knew that Regina was not really much of a drinker.  Yet the Queen was on her third drink of the night, and had already ordered a fourth.   As Ruby set the drink in front of Regina, Maleficent was just able to make out what the waitress said to her.

  “Sorry to hear about you and Robin. We all thought that you two were a sure thing.” Said Ruby, with a small, sincere smile.

  “It’s alright. I’ve been through worse.”  Regina grimaced, and swallowed the new drink in a single gulp.

  “Ah,” thought Maleficent, from her spot on the wall. “The relationship with the thief has run its course.”

  As Maleficent looked on, the sable-haired Queen stood up from her stool slightly unsteadily, and raised her head to glance around the room.  Regina spotted her old friend quickly, and a huge grin spread across her face as she began to make her way over to the blonde.

  Maleficent, whose hands were in her pockets, straightened her back as Regina stopped and stood silently in front of her.  Mal’s face was a mask of composure as Regina, still wearing a mischievous grin, wordlessly reached up and began to undo the knot of Maleficent’s silver tie.  She slid the tie off and dropped it carelessly to the floor.  Maleficent did not blink.

  Regina, now with a smile stretched fully across her face, let out a short laugh as she leaned forward slightly, and pinched one of the buttons of Maleficent’s shirt between her teeth.  She met the dragon’s eyes as she ripped it off.  Mal still gave no reaction, just watched the other woman carefully.

  As Regina moved forward to bite off another button, this one just above the blonde’s breasts, Maleficent finally asked in a sharp tone, “Exactly what type of response are you hoping to elicit from me with this behavior?”

  Regina glanced up to meet Maleficent’s eyes, and with a snap, the second button came loose and Regina laughed again.  A number of heads in the diner were now turned in their direction.  As much as Mal enjoyed the spectacle they were making, she realized Regina would most likely regret it in the morning.

  “Alright, enough.” said Maleficent, as she quickly wrapped an arm around Regina’s shoulders.  In a few short steps, Mal had moved them through the nearby doorway and out into the back hallway of the building, Regina still grinning.  As Maleficent straightened up, Regina stepped sideways to face Mal again.  The grin was replaced with a look of longing as Regina just stood and stared at the blonde.  After a few seconds, she spoke.

  “Mal, your eyes… I remember the first thing I noticed about you was your eyes.  Every time I look directly into them, it’s like looking out across a vast ocean, and if I stare long enough I can see down into the depths of the deepest sea, and then right through them and out across infinity.”

  “Well, you can certainly become poetic when inebriated, that’s new.  I’ll keep that in mind.” Maleficent replied.  As Regina stood mesmerized, Maleficent was struck by the most nostalgic wave of feelings.  She couldn’t help but lean forward and touch her forehead to Regina’s.  They stood there together for a moment, before Mal straightened up and took Regina’s chin in her hand.  Mal spoke softly, “There’s something I’ve wanted to talk to you about, and it would appear now is the time.”

  And with a whirl of magical smoke, Maleficent removed the two of them from Granny’s, and into the foyer of Regina’s mansion.

  Maleficent took a glance around the darkened house, and asked, “Is your son here?”

  “No, Henry is staying with Emma tonight.”  Regina answered.  Realizing her actions at the diner must have worked, Regina smiled again and asked, “Does that mean you’ll be staying?”

  “I may, but I do want to talk with you.  Are you capable of that at the moment?”

  “Of course I am, I didn’t have that much to drink.  I’m not exactly a lightweight.”

  “You could have fooled me. This is serious, and just a bit… well, deeply personal.” Mal’s voice waivered ever so slightly on the last word.

  “What is it, Mal?” asked Regina, concern now entering her voice.

  When Maleficent didn’t respond right away, Regina took the blonde’s arm and pulled her into the adjacent room and onto the sofa, facing one another.  After a few seconds, Maleficent met Regina’s eyes, and began to speak.

  “I just wanted to say to you how wonderful the last few weeks have been, despite losing Lily again.  Spending all this time with you, after so long an absence.  I’ve known you as the child Queen, who barely knew her place in the world.  I knew the Evil Queen, steeped in darkness.  And now, this newest version of you, which is by far the best.  Brilliant, beautiful, and amazing,” Maleficent said as she stroked her fingers down Regina’s jawline and continued, “Just as you’ve always been, but refined.  More powerful, of course, but kinder, full of the determination and ferocity you had when you were younger, but with the wisdom gained by the passage of time.  A woman free of the manipulations of Cora and Rumple, a woman not influenced by me and my bad habits.  One who has learned to appreciate life as it is given.  A new and greater Regina than those who came before.”

  Maleficent paused, and it seemed the tears which had been welling in her eyes might overflow.  Instead, she took a breath and spoke again.

  “It has been incredible to get to know you all over again.  To fall in love with you all over again.  And then, to come to the realization that I never fell out of love with you at all.”  At these words, Maleficent smiled at last.  She looked again into Regina’s eyes, and was surprised by the reaction she saw there.

  Maleficent had expected mere acceptance of this statement perhaps, or possibly even derision.  But the unadulterated joy she saw in Regina’s eyes was astonishing.

  “Mal, I never stopped loving you either.”  She said, as the tears which came to her so easily these days rolled down her cheeks.

  “I had no idea how to say it, I thought you’d be so angry with me about letting Emma… well, and then you weren’t and I had no idea what to think.  And then with Robin being back in town, and the Author… It all got so complicated, so quickly.” Regina rambled, a clear sign of her emotion, when she was typically so calculated and reserved.

  “Regina, my sweet one, it doesn’t have to be complicated at all.”

  Maleficent pulled Regina closer, and brushed her lips up Regina’s neck.  She tilted her head to bring their lips together, as she felt a hand slide up her leg under her skirt and fingers gently squeeze the flesh of her thigh.  Regina’s other hand was wrapped firmly around Maleficent’s back, and held the blonde in place to lengthen the kiss, as she slid her tongue past Mal’s full lips and into her partner’s mouth.  Too soon, though, Mal pulled away.

  “Regina, you’re certain?” Maleficent asked firmly.  “I don’t want resentment later.”

  “Of course,” replied Regina, as she removed her hand from Mal’s leg and grabbed her by the hand.  She stood and gave a gentle tug to indicate that Maleficent should follow, and led them both back towards the foyer.

  “I’ve been dying for a taste of dragon,” said Regina as she led Maleficent up the stairs and straight to the bed.


End file.
